1. Drafting the Claim Form1
Civil Litigation, 5.3; Example Claim Form at 7.2.1.6
PD16, para 2
Overvie The Claim Form is the document used to commence court proceedings.
w In brief, the process is that:
The Claim Form will be sent to the Court by the Claimant.
The Court will “issue” the Claim Form by affixing their seal to this (i.e., the form will
be stamped by a member of the Court’s Staff).
The Claim Form must then be served on the proposed Defendant. Either:
The Court can do this on the Claimant’s behalf, or
The Claimant can request the Claim Form be returned to them for service
(known as Solicitor’s Service).
If Solicitor’s Service is requested, the Claim Form must be served on the Defendant
by completing the relevant step in CPR 7.5(1) before midnight on the calendar day
four months after the date of issue.
Drafting a Claim Form is a common exam question.
As with the Letter of Claim, we suggest following the checklist below, whilst referring to the Template
Letters of Claim included as well as the exemplars provided in your Workshops.
Drafting the Claim Form Checklist
In the… [Court] Court Likely to be the High Court:
[Division]
[District Claims worth less than £100,000:
Registry] PD 7A, para 2.1: may not be started in the High Court
Unless it is a Personal Injury claim, in which case the threshold
is £50k.
Claims worth more than £100,000:
PD 7A, para 2.4: claimant has a choice of High Court or County
Court having regard to:
The financial value of the claim.
The complexity of the facts, legal issues, remedies or
procedures involved.
The importance of the outcome of the claim.
Division Likely to be the Queen’s Bench Division:
Queen’s Bench Division:
Claims for breach of contract or tort.
Business & Property Courts of [England & Wales / Region]
Chancery Division:
The Chancery Division is part of the “Business &
Property Courts”
It deals with Commercial claims e.g., trusts,
claims about land, landlord and tenant disputes,
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Workshop 4, Prep Task
, contentious probate, intellectual property, if
seeking an equitable remedy such as specific
performance.
State “England” if the case is in the Court in
London, otherwise state the regional office
(Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, etc.).
Family Division
District Look to the question for the location of the district registry.
Registry
Most probably will have to state:
“The High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, [Location] District
Registry”.
If the claim is money only & is issued in the County Court, it should be issued in the
County Court Money Claims Centre.
Fee Account Look at the question.
Number This is the firm’s reference number for court fees paid electronically.
Claim Number Leave blank
& Issue Date We will not have these details if the claim is not yet issued.
Claimant(s) Look at the question for Claimant’s address.
Names and
Address(es) This is NOT:
Including The solicitors’ address even if they are represented (PD16, para 2.2).
Postcode A residential address of a director (if the Claimant is a company).
MUST include the post code.
There is no need to include the party’s company number.
Number the names where there are multiple claimants.
How to format the names of different entities:
Individual: Mr John Smith
Sole Traders: Mr John Smith trading as Smith Shoes
Partnerships: [Name of the Partnership] (A firm) (PD 7A, para 5A.3).
Company: [Name of Company] [Ltd / Limited / PLC]
Defendant(s) As above for the Claimant.
Names and Personal address; not solicitors’ address (PD16, para 2.3).
Address(es)
Including NB: If the claim form does not show the Claimant’s or Defendant’s full address, the
Postcode claim form will be issued but will not be served by the court until the claimant has
supplied a full address (PD16, para 2.5)
Brief Details of Include the remedy and cause of action.
Claim The claim form should contain:
CPR 16.2(1)(a): a concise statement of the nature of the claim
CPR 16.2(1)(b): the remedy sought.
, If the claim is for breach of contract, include the date of the contract,
brief details of the terms breached.
E.g., “the Claimant claims damages arising out of the Defendant’s breach of contract
on 8th August 2020”.
See exemplars for further examples.
Value2 The figure to insert in the “Value” panel depends on whether the claim is
“Unspecified” or “Specified”3.
What is a A specified claim is where the claim is for a fixed amount which the
specified court does not have to determine e.g., repayment of a debt (PD 3,
claim? para 3.4)
I.e., the damages are “specified” at the outset.
Contrast this with a claim for, for instance, damages for Personal
Injury, where the Court will have to conduct an investigation and
the precise value of the claim will not be clear at the outset of the
claim. That is an example of an “unspecified” claim.
What is an An unspecified claim is where the precise value of the claim is not
unspecified known at the outset, for instance damages for Personal Injury.
claim? If the court will have to conduct an investigation to decide the
amount of money payable, it will be unspecified.
E.g. if the claimant claims damages, factors such as remoteness,
contributory negligence etc. may reduce the amount payable.
Drafting
Unspecified If claim issued in the High Court and claiming £100,000+ state:
claims: “The Claimant expects to recover more than £100,000” (CPR
16.3(6)).
If claim issued in the County Court:
“The Claimant expects to recover not more than £100,000”
[or a lesser figure if the Claim is worth less; e.g. “The
Claimant expects to recover more than £20,000 but not more
than £50,000”].
Specified State the exact sum sought + calculate the total interest payable
claims: (see notes on POC)
E.g., “The claim is for a specified sum of £63,450 plus accrued
interest of £1995.30 and compensation of £100”.
Defendant’s Put in the Defendant’s solicitors address if he is represented .
Name and Plus, any further available info such as:
Address for DX number.
Service Telephone number.
Including Fax number.
Postcode The other side’s reference.
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Workshop 4, Task 2, Question 1
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LPC Buddy includes exemplar Claim Forms for both an unspecified claim (prepared in University of Law Workshop 4), and a
specified claim (a recreation of the Claim Form at 7.2.1.6 of Civil Litigation).
, Amount Specified Claims:
Claimed State the total of compensation + interest claimed.
Unspecified Claims:
State the lower bracket of the EX50 for the court fee payable e.g., if claiming
damages of £12,000, state that the amount claimed is “over £10,000”.
Court Fee Dependent upon the value of the claim.
See EX50 Extract below.
Legal If the claim is unspecified put:
Representatives TBA
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Costs
If the claim is specified put:
Amount of fixed costs payable under CPR 45.2:
Part 45 Value of the claim between £25 and £500:
Fixed £50 if the claim form is served by the court or method other
Costs than Personal Service, e.g., post.
£60 if the claim form is served personally by the claimant and
there is only one defendant.
£15 for each additional defendant if Personal Service.
Value of the claim is between £500 and £1000
£70 if the claim form is served by the court or method other
than Personal Service.
£80 if the claim form is served personally by the claimant and
there is only one defendant.
£15 for each additional defendant if Personal Service.
Value of the claim is between £1000 and £5000
£80 if the claim form is served by the court or method other
than Personal Service.
£90 if the claim form is served personally by the claimant and
there is only one defendant.
£15 for each additional defendant if Personal Service.
Value of the claim is greater than £5000
£100 if the claim form is served by the court or method other
than Personal Service.
£110 if the claim form is served personally by the claimant and
there is only one defendant.
£15 for each additional defendant if Personal Service.
Preferred Do not fill in if in the High Court.
County Court Otherwise fill in with a county court local to the parties.
Hearing Centre
Vulnerable Check the box only if there is a witness who is vulnerable who requires adjustments
Witnesses (e.g., separate entry and exit to and from the Court).
Unlikely to be relevant to the Dispute Resolution LPC Core Module.
Human Rights Check “No”
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Workshop 4, Task 2, Question 2
